Index of Economic Freedom

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An overall heatmap from the 2023 Index of Economic Freedom, published by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal: .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Free (100-80) Mostly free (79.9-70) Moderately free (69.9-60) Mostly unfree (59.9-50) Repressed (49.9-0.00) Map of countries by Index of Economic Freedom (2023).svg
An overall heatmap from the 2023 Index of Economic Freedom, published by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal :
  Free (100–80)
  Mostly free (79.9–70)
  Moderately free (69.9–60)
  Mostly unfree (59.9–50)
  Repressed (49.9–0.00)

The Index of Economic Freedom is an annual index and ranking created in 1995 by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal to measure the degree of economic freedom in the world's nations. The creators of the index assert that they take an approach inspired by Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations , that "basic institutions that protect the liberty of individuals to pursue their own economic interests result in greater prosperity for the larger society". [1] [2] [ page needed ]

Contents

Purpose

The Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom states that, "Economic freedom is the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property. In an economically free society, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please. In economically free societies, governments allow labor, capital, and goods to move freely, and refrain from coercion or constraint of liberty beyond the extent necessary to protect and maintain liberty itself." [3] By publishing the Index annually, the foundation attempts to highlight where such freedoms do and do not exist.

The Heritage Foundation reports that the top 20% on the Index have twice the per capita income of those in the second quintile, and five times that of the bottom 20%. [4]

Carl Schramm, who wrote the first chapter of the 2008 Index, states that cities of Medieval Italy and those of the mid-19th century Midwestern United States both flourished proportionate to their possessed economic fluidity and institutional adaptiveness created by economic freedom. [5]

According to Will Wilkinson of the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, studies show that higher economic freedom correlates strongly with higher self-reported happiness. [6] According to economists Tomi Ovaska and Ryo Takashima, economic freedom research suggests "that people unmistakably care about the degree to which the society where they live provides them opportunities and the freedom to undertake new projects, and make choices based on one's personal preferences." [7]

According to the Cato Institute, higher economic freedom promotes participation and collaboration. [8] Also claimed is that higher economic freedom is extremely significant in preventing wars; according to their calculations, freedom is around 54 times more effective than democracy (as measured by Democracy Score) in diminishing violent conflict. [9]

Ratings

Between 1995, the first edition of the Index, and 2008, the score for world economic freedom has increased, rising 2.6 points, according to the Index. [10]

Between 2008 and 2011, however, the score decreased 60.2 to 59.7, though the 2011 score represents an increase of 2.2 points since the first edition in 1995. The economic freedom score improved for 117 countries, the majority of countries included in the index, which were mainly developing and emerging market economies. In 2011, with the exception of Europe and North America, there were increased levels of freedom recorded in all regions, with the greatest improvement shown in Sub-Saharan Africa. The top five "free" economies identified by the 2011 index were Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Switzerland, each scoring over 80 on the economic freedom grading scale. [11]

Also in 2011, the United States dropped to 9th place in the Index, falling behind Denmark, Canada, and first-place Hong Kong, which ranked first in every issue of the Index from 1995 until 2019. [11] The Heritage Foundation pointed to increases in government spending as a primary reason for the United States' decline in its ranking. According to data from the 2011 Index, the growth rates of countries with the highest levels of government spending were 4.5 points lower, on average, than countries where government spending was under control. [12] In their "Executive Highlights" of index results in 2011, the Heritage Foundation wrote that, "high levels of government spending in response to the global economic turmoil have not resulted in higher economic growth". [11]

In 2012, results from the Index showed an overall decline in global economic freedom; according to The Heritage Foundation, the average score in its ranking was the second- lowest of the last ten years. [13] The U.S. dropped to 10th place in the 2012 ranking, falling three places since 2008, when it was seventh. [14] A report issued by the Heritage Foundation stated that government spending was the cause of many countries' declines, and that the spending had "not only failed to arrest the economic crisis, but also – in many countries – seems to be prolonging it". [15] According to the report, activity in the private sector is threatened by the greater government spending, which has increased public debt and led to more bureaucracy. [13]

Hong Kong

For 25 consecutive years, from 1995 to 2019, Hong Kong was ranked the world's most free economy by the Index. [11] [16] [ failed verification ]

In 2021, however, after the Hong Kong national security law was implemented, the Heritage Foundation dropped Hong Kong and Macau as independent entities in the Index, writing that, "developments in recent years have demonstrated unambiguously that those policies are ultimately controlled from Beijing". The 2019 Index ranked the level of economic freedom in China low, 107th among the 178 ranked in the report. [17]

Methodology

The Index evaluates 184 countries in four broad policy areas that affect the economic freedom, which are rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency, and open markets. [18] [19] It also takes into consideration some specific categories like property rights, judicial effectiveness, government integrity and tax burden. [20] The ranking scores aspects of economic freedom between 0 and 100, with 0 meaning "no economic freedom" and 100 meaning "total economic freedom". There are twelve aspects divided into four categories. [21]

Reception

In 2001, Freedom House, a human rights group, wrote that, "there is a high and statistically significant correlation between the level of political freedom as measured by Freedom House and economic freedom as measured by The Wall Street Journal/Heritage Foundation survey." [22]

In his 2005 book The End of Poverty , Jeffrey Sachs graphed countries' ratings on the Index against per capita GDP growth between 1995 and 2003, claiming to demonstrate that there was no correlation between a country's rating and its rate of economic growth. As examples, Sachs cited countries with good ratings in the Index, such as Switzerland and Uruguay, which had sluggish economic performances while others, like China, with poorer ratings in the Index were experiencing strong economic growth. [23]

In January 2005, Stefan Karlsson of the Ludwig von Mises Institute challenged the usefulness of the Index due to the fuzziness of many of the categories used to determine freedom. [24]

In March 2005, John Miller criticized the Index, writing in Dollars & Sense , "In the hands of the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation, Washington's foremost right-wing think tank, however, an economic freedom index merely measures corporate and entrepreneurial freedom from accountability. Upon examination, the index turns out to be a poor barometer of either freedom more broadly construed or of prosperity." [25] According to Left Business Observer, growth in Index accounts for 10% of the variation in the growth of GDP. [26]

In September 2007, the Millennium Challenge Account, a U.S. government foreign aid program, used the Index in determining which countries will receive their performance-based compacts. [27]

In January 2008, United Arab Emirates questioned its rating in the Index, comparing its average rating with the high rating they had received from other economic freedom indexes, such as Transparency International and Moody's. UAE argued, calling the Index "unreliable", arguing that its methodology changed twice over the prior two years. [28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Executive Summary" (PDF). Index of Economic Freedom. January 15, 2008. Archived from the original on February 27, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
  2. ↑ William Beach, Time Kane (January 15, 2008). "Methodology; Measuring the 10 Economic Freedoms" (PDF). Index of Economic Freedom. Archived from the original on February 27, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
  3. ↑ "2021 Index of Economic Freedom | The Heritage Foundation". www.heritage.org. Archived from the original on November 17, 2010.
  4. ↑ Mary Anastasia O'Grady (January 15, 2008). "The Real Key to Development". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
  5. ↑ Carl J. Schramm (15 January 2008). "Chapter 1 Economic Fluidity: A Crucial Dimension of Economic Freedom" (PDF). The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  6. ↑ "In Pursuit of Happiness Research: Is It Reliable? What Does It Imply for Policy?" Archived December 19, 2022, at the Wayback Machine , Will Wilkinson, The Cato institute, Policy Analysis No. 590, 11 April 2007
  7. ↑ Ovaska Tomi, Takashima Ryo (2006). "Economic policy and the level of self-perceived well-being: An international comparison". The Journal of Socio-Economics. 35 (2): 308–325. doi:10.1016/j.socec.2005.11.054.
  8. ↑ More Freedom = More Happiness Archived 29 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine , Public Issues, Libertad Desarrollo, No. 750, 23 January 2006, ISSN   0717-1528
  9. ↑ "Chapter2: Economic Freedom and Peace" Archived 16 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine , Erik Gartzke, in Economic Freedom of the World: 2005 Annual Report, James Gwartney and Robert Lawson, Fraser Institute, 30 August 2005
  10. ↑ Barry Wood (January 15, 2008). "Economic Freedom Holding Steady, 14th Index of Economic Freedom Shows". PR Newswire. Archived from the original on January 18, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Executive Highlights" (PDF). The Heritage Foundation. 2011. Archived from the original on February 19, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  12. ↑ Miller, Terry (2011). "The Limits of Government" (PDF). Heritage.org. The Heritage Foundation. p. 13. Archived from the original on February 20, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  13. 1 2 "Global economic freedom dipped last year, annual survey says; Hong Kong remains world's freest". Washington Post. Associated Press. January 12, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2012.[ dead link ]
  14. ↑ Edwin Feulner (January 17, 2012). "Still in top 10, but falling fast". The Washington Times. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  15. ↑ Edwin J. Feulner (January 12, 2012). "A Step Backward for Economic Freedom in 2012". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  16. ↑ Ed Feulner (22 January 2008). "Football and economic freedom". IndyStar. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  17. ↑ "Hong Kong dropped from Economic Freedom Index as policies 'controlled from Beijing'", Reuters, March 4, 2021
  18. ↑ Amanov, Merdan. "Has Turkmenistan's Transition to a Market Economy Been a Success?". The Diplomat . Archived from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2022. Turkmenistan ranks in 165th place in the Index out of the total 177 countries
  19. ↑ "Bangladesh slips 17 notches on economic freedom index". The Business Standard. February 16, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  20. ↑ Bass, David (February 16, 2022). "Freedom? U.S. dips to record low in global rankings". Carolina Journal -. Archived from the original on September 5, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022. four broad policy areas affecting economic freedom
  21. ↑ "Methodology Index of Economic Freedom" (PDF). Archived from the original on January 27, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  22. ↑ Adrian Karatnycky. Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties. Transaction Publishers. 2001. ISBN   978-0-7658-0101-2. p. 11
  23. ↑ The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for our Time, Jeffrey Sachs, Penguin Books, 2005, ISBN   1-59420-045-9, pp. 320–321.
  24. ↑ Stefan Karlsson (21 January 2005). "The Failings of the Economic Freedom Index". Mises Daily. Ludwig von Mises Institute. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  25. ↑ "Free, Free at Last" Archived April 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine , John Miller, Dollars and Sense, No. 258, March/April 2005
  26. ↑ "Laissez-faire Olympics, an LBO special report" Archived April 30, 2011, at the Wayback Machine , Left Business Observer, 26 March 2005
  27. ↑ "Report on the Criteria and Methodology for Determining the Eligibility of Candidate Countries for Millennium Challenge Account Assistance during Fiscal Year 2008" (PDF). Millennium Challenge Corporation. 1 September 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  28. ↑ "UAE challenges its economic freedom ranking in paper by Heritage Foundation". Business Intelligence Middle East. January 31, 2008. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
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